Regulators Block California’s “Assault Weapon” Proposal

Last month, the California Department of Justice submitted draft regulations to the state Office of Administrative Law (OAL) regarding “assault weapons.” The proposal called for the creation of more than 40 new definitions that would improperly reclassify certain firearms as “assault weapons.” As NRA-ILA reported, the regulations would have subjected gun owners in the state to burdensome and excessive requirements in order to register firearms equipped with “bullet buttons” as required under California law.

In a rare bit of firearm-related good news to come out of the Golden State, the OAL formally rejected the DOJ’s proposed regulations on Monday. Both NRA and the California Rifle & Pistol Association stood firm in opposition to the DOJ’s request, and they sent a letter to OAL last week outlining their concerns.

This is one small victory for a state mired in a seemingly endless sea of gun restrictions. To stay up-to-speed on the latest efforts, visit StandAndFightCalifornia.com.

Shannon Watts Says Losing Is A Sign Her Side Is Winning

In an extreme showing of unfounded “glass half full” optimism, Head Demanding Mom Shannon Watts proclaimed at huffingtonpost.com that a recent election loss means her side is winning the gun debate.

In her op-ed, Watts took issue with Joe Scarborough claiming that Democrats are losing elections because they aren’t pro-gun enough. In truth, that was exactly the case in last year’s presidential election and several special congressional elections held since then. But Watts won’t have any of it.

“Look at Jason Kander in Missouri; he took the gun lobby head on by supporting background checks on all gun sales and showing strong support for the Second Amendment in the Senate race,” Watts wrote. In fact, Kander lost that election, which Watts mentions, but credits to factors other than his support for more restrictive gun laws.

One thing we can agree with Watts on. In the same piece, she stated: “Voters support gun safety.” That’s true, and the NRA has always been the largest teacher of gun safety in the world. What voters don’t support is more restrictions on law-abiding gun owners—which Watts calls “gun safety” just to confuse the issue.

Fake “Trump Slump” News, Part 9,427

In a strange feature story posted at public radio station wuwm.com in Milwaukee, author Jana Kasperkevic ignored gun sales news released earlier this month and declared gun sales continue to fall since President Trump took office.

In the story, ridiculously titled “Are gunslingers making a comeback thanks to open carry?” Kasperkevic does a somewhat fair job exploring the open carry issue until she drops the bomb: “But as a result, gun sales—which have surged under Obama—have dropped off since Trump took office and are expected to remain lower this year than in 2016. So even if the listener is seeing more people openly carrying guns, that does not mean that gun sales under Trump have flourished.”

In fact, we recently reported on numbers released more than three weeks ago showing that the FBI performed a record 1.94 million background checks last month—the most for any month of May since records have been kept. But apparently Kasperkevic and NPR missed the memo on that new record, which points toward a “Trump Jump,” instead of a “Trump Slump.”

California Sheriff Won’t Enforce “High-Capacity” Magazine Ban

The California ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds goes into effect July 1, and so far all signs point to a high rate of non-compliance among gun owners. Now one major law enforcement official has spoken up to say that enforcing the ban isn’t on his agenda.

Sheriff Tom Bosenko of Shasta County, which includes the city of Redding, sarcastically remarked to The Sacramento Bee that gun owners were lining up around the block to turn in their soon-to-be-illegal magazines—in fact, no one in his jurisdiction has done so at this time. But he said that he wouldn’t be asking his deputies to search for “high-capacity” magazines.

“We’re not going to be knocking on anybody’s door looking for them,” Sheriff Bosenko explained. “We’re essentially making law-abiding citizens into criminals with this new law.” It's likely we'll see other California law enforcement officials taking a similar stance to this ridiculous ban in the coming weeks.

When Intruder Ignores Woman’s Warning, She Stops Him With Her Gun

“It’s my life at stake … I’m not going to bet my life on that last second or wait for the cops, I’m going to act.”

Billy Dall lives in a trailer park off California’s Interstate 5 near Castaic, and told CBS2 he knows the feeling of being quite a few miles and several minutes away from law enforcement response—with no power lines and limited cell phone service. So, he understood his neighbor Linda Chisholm’s reaction when an intruder forced his way into her home.

Investigators say Chisholm yelled at a would-be robber to leave, and said she had a gun. Nonetheless, the man burst through her door and she had no option but to fire. The suspect was hit in the chest and transported to the hospital in critical condition.

Dall added, “I back her 100 percent, if someone came to my house and not going away when I warn him … they wouldn’t be walking out.”